Midstate unemployment improves slightly in July

(Harrisburg) — Unemployment across the commonwealth is holding steady at 7.5 percent, but July’s jobless numbers in the midstate are showing slight signs of improvement.

The state Department of Labor and Industry is reporting a mix of hiring in the medical, hospitality and information sectors, while layoffs hit some in government and transportation.

The Gettysburg area owns the midstate’s lowest unemployment rate, at 6.1 percent.

The Pottsville, Schuylkill County, area, has the highest rate at 8.7 percent, which is a drop of three-tenths of a percentage point since June.

The biggest drop in joblessness came in the Selisngrove area in Snyder County, where it fell half a point to 7.4 percent.

Unemployment was unchanged in the Lebanon and Harrisburg-Carlisle areas, while it increased in the Lancaster area to 6.3 percent.

That one-tenth-of a point bump is the region’s only increase in joblessness.

The Reading, York-Hanover and Chambersburg areas all saw unemployment tick down by one-tenth of a percentage point.